


Election Day

by Chephren



Category: Arcadia, Arcadia - Election Day, Duran Duran, Duran Duran (Music Videos)
Genre: AU inspired by a music video, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-09
Updated: 2016-11-11
Packaged: 2018-08-29 23:44:11
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,041
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8510317
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chephren/pseuds/Chephren
Summary: 'A short story inspired by Duran Duran's 1985 splinter group, Arcadia's music video, "Election Day," on America's Election Day.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey Duranies! XD This fandom alive? This was supposed to be a solo writing practice drabble for this music video since today is Election Day for those of us who are American. However, it's beyond a drabble now so I'm not sure what it is. Chap 1 is all I have so far.
> 
> I haven't been a proper Duranie since the late 90s but nonetheless, I already know that this will not reflect the way that Simon or Nick really act or would react. How could I know that anyway aside from having watched Sing Blue Silver like a bazillion times back in the day?? XDDD ("I NEED A WRISTBAAAND!!" XDDDD)
> 
> So fans, don't get your hopes up. I was actually just wanting to share my own takes on what I thought they were trying to put across with their personas in this amazing video. I have always loved Election Day and the other Arcadia vids. This one in particular is SO WEIRD. Beautiful of course but also weird... and when I watched it this morning, it's actually hilarious too! XD A great time to be had all around!
> 
> Short vid: Election Day Official Video -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4W5aKwrsYIM  
> Long vid: Election Day full version -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3Yy6c0Tlvk
> 
> So again, this is AU. Simon and Nick as other guys called Simon and Nick because... well why mess with perfection, yeah? XD When I refer to Simon having a wife, I'm totally not talking about Yasmin... which, I assume they're still married, yes? *hopes so!*
> 
> Since it was supposed to be a drabble I wanted to have out today, I cannot say how long it will be or when I will finish or _if_ I will. However, if I have another slow period at work and I can't work on my smut fic, I'll focus on this for something fun to do.
> 
> Oh and speaking of my being American, since I've not been a Duranie for ages, I'm totally out of touch with what the guys used to say or rather, have gone on record as ever saying. I didn't want to go overboard typing out slang I wasn't sure they would use or their pronunciation of words either. I just added a tiny bit for flavor from how I remember Simon saying things. So feel free to accent it the hell up in your own head, I totally am all for it! XD
> 
> I really hope you enjoy! <3 My take on bits of what I think the guys were trying to say! Also with my own embellishments. Thank you, Simon, Nick and Roger for sharing this amazing time with us! <3 Oh! And sorry for the sexual tension between Simon and Nick, I'm a yaoi/slash writer at heart. Learn to love it! XD
> 
> In truth, I'm not sure yet if there will be explicit sex in here since I did this first chap at work but usually there has to be to keep my attention so we'll see! XD

* * *

The sun was just setting over a vast cityscape that normally bustled with activity and the drive of those hungry for power and success.  Tonight however was quieter, the most tranquil this place had been for longer than anyone wished to remember.  

Cutting the low hum of the usual, the metro whizzed past, motoring along the bridge at high speed.  It was a beautiful night really if anyone bothered to notice but all were settled in for family dinners before rushing off to the next thing.  Some would get their children ready for bed while some would sneak out to clandestine meetings of the flesh or secret business.  Or both… Kiss their spouses before leaving them to tend to the nefarious.

One who walked the streets tonight had no concept of any of these habits.  He had no fear of poverty or family expectation for he had no one.  Nick did not feel sorrow over this.  He did have staff after all who catered to his every need and whim, no matter how frivolous.  Never having known lack of material things or obedient company, the dark haired man did not feel anything was amiss, having been born into a legacy already in place.  His parents, having never been around, estranged from him and each other, lived on opposite sides of the world.  It has always been thus and he did not expect it to change.  He had had the best nanny and education that money could buy so he had no doubt that he was worthy of the very best.

Often, he took evening strolls up here after dinner at dusk, breathing in the freshness of the air in the large park that lay under the raised track of the metro.  It was beautiful here, one of the only spots so green in this festering, concrete place.  Even if it was planted green rather than natural, it touched him somehow.  No green could thrive where he lived, not without unnatural help.  The plant life in this park, kissed by the sun and rain, grew well on its own despite man’s efforts to confine and refine everything.

Tucking his long black hair behind his ears and into the collar of his trenchcoat, Nick knelt down to sniff one of the beckoning flowers that grew at his feet along the sidewalk.  It was a daffodil, surrounded by its family.  Normally, Nick wouldn’t have gone for this type of flower at all, something so bright and sunny.  This one didn’t even have a particular smell to it.  Yet these were so fresh and so…  _ free…  _

He found he could not resist.  He knew if he took one with him as he wished, it would simply die in the darkness of his home.  There was artificial lighting of course but this sort of plant…  _ most _ plants… needed sunlight if they might really live.

With a sigh, he looked up at the place where the fading rays touched the skyscrapers in their nightly farewell.  It was getting late and being in this cesspool only served to remind him of the comforts awaiting him at home so he rose and walked back to whence he had come.

A few blocks west, into the bowels of downtown, he found the tracks of an adjacent line of the metro.  There beneath the tracks, a lone transexual hooker waited to solicit passing cars.  Her time would come in maybe 20 minutes, signaling the start of her busy night.  

“Sure I can’t interest you in some company, cutie?” she cooed at him as he passed.

He smiled back at her, impressed by her nerve to say the least.  “Mm, perhaps another time.”  He knew if he didn’t say no, she would certainly ask him again but he was almost sure that was what he wanted.  Something about this situation humored him and he couldn’t say that he wasn’t a little intrigued by the proposition, imagining the experience would be worth every penny.

Passing her favorite streetlight, Nick did turn his head to look at her as he made his way along the sidewalk.  She was always dressed so elegantly, sporting a chic satin bolero jacket tonight with puffed half sleeves and a top hat.  She was so different than the others here that he wondered if she might be one of his people.  It was generally easy to pick them out, each one more darkly polished than the ones that lived in the light.  Perhaps that was it, the often deathly pale hue of the skin.  However with her, he wasn’t entirely sure.

A low groan pulled his attention away from her to his far left and he noticed an alcove built into one of the metro pillars.  Curiously, Nick walked over to it to find a rumpled heap lying there.  Nudging it with his boot, he found it to be a person.

“Oi…” the lump protested and after some shuffling, a sandy brown head appeared.  “Can’t you see I’m trying to sleep ‘ere?”

Nick wasn’t put off at all.  “You were being pretty loud about it, weren’t you?  What are you doing out here?”  It wasn’t as if he hadn’t seen a bum before, just that he had never taken the opportunity to ask what motivated poor people.  This guy was only a little older than him, perhaps late twenties.  Kneeling down to rest his forearms on his knees and watch the man, Nick mused, “I’ve never seen someone as young as you sleeping outside before, only old veterans who are usually too drugged up to have a sensical conversation.”

“Fuck you,” the other man countered, his hand coming to his head as he tried to sit up angrily.  “You know nothing of their problems or mine!  Ugh… ow!  _ That _ hurt.”

“Hm… and  _ you’re _ not much better…”  

Nick looked around them to see if anyone overheard.  They were relatively unseen and this guy was drunk… perhaps too drunk to remember what he might do next.  Quickly removing his lightweight leather glove, Nick pressed a warm fingertip to the derelict’s forehead and there was a baby blue pulse of light, which greatly lessened the man’s pain.  The scowl on the older man’s face softened and he looked up blearily out of wondrous blue eyes.

“Cor… what?”

“Never you mind that,” Nick replied, amused by this guy’s belated responses.  “What’s your name?”

“S… Simon,” the man answered, “I think I’ve bumped me ‘ed but… it’s better now.”

“Good,” Nick acknowledged, eager to get onto something more.  “Now what are you doing out here?”

“I… was a factory worker.  Foreman.  They’ve transferred our jobs out o’ the country for cheaper labor and now, I’ve got nothing.  That was all I knew how to do and it was the last place in town.  To learn another trade would be to start over at the bottom.  My wife left me when she knew I could no longer support her.  I was making good money there after working since I was a teenager.  ... _ And  _ she took the dog… Bitch.”

“Surely there is something else you could do,” Nick offered thoughtfully.  This mess of a man was pathetic right now but even under the circumstances, he could feel that Simon had a special sort of charisma.  It pulled at Nick and made him want to know more… well not  _ know _ more.  This story was terrible and as fearless as Nick generally was, having the whole world at his behest, it made him feel twinges of doubt and concern when he considered a life with no money in it.  It was not relevant to him and he did not wish to think on it further.

“I have no prospects, no idea where to start…” Simon interjected, clearly desperate to convince Nick that none of this was his fault and he had tried everything he knew of before he had hit rock bottom.

“Enough,” Nick cut him off, not willing to listen to anymore, true or not.  “I don’t believe that this is all there is for you.”  Indeed, he believed that Simon was meant for greatness.  The older man just needed to see it for himself.

“Oh really?” Simon huffed frustratedly, “This coming from some poof that doesn’t look like he’s worked a day in his life.  What are you, made o’ money?”

“Yes,” Nick answered with a tired sigh.   _ Wow, this bloke is exhausting… but with a new purpose... _  It only took a moment before a strange sort of clarity struck him and he leaned forward, long black tendrils with two stark streaks of white falling forward out of his collar to frame his face as he did so.  “How would you like to be something better?  Something great?”

“Oh, you dreamin’, are ya?  Teasing me from your ‘igh ‘n’ mighty ‘orse?  Well as long as we’re doing this, let me help ya.  Yeah, I wanna knock great out of the sky.  I want to show me ex that I’m the best there is.”  What started out as Simon’s joke carried him away all of a sudden had become very serious now.  “An-and… I want all the women flocking to me, throwing themselves at my feet.”

Nick knew just what to do now.  “I know you can do that,” he agreed.  Rising to his full height, he put his glove back on.  “Come with me.  I’ll take care of you until you’re back on your feet.”

Unable to take his little dark angel completely seriously, Simon was just grateful for the offer of shelter for as long as he could get it.  “Well,” he replied expectantly, “give us a hand.”  He reached upwards toward Nick.

With a sullen slump of his shoulders, Nick reached down and helped the poor sod up.

Simon, still in a state of inebriation, dusted himself off and began to stumble past Nick toward the beautiful tranny on the corner.

“Uh, you’re  _ welcome _ ,” Nick retorted to Simon’s backside as he watched him curiously.  “Uhm, and we have to move  _ this _ way, by the way.”  His gloved hand reached out to indicate the opposite direction from where Simon was headed.

“Wha- oh!  Right,” the other man acknowledged, pivoting in place in a very impressive manner, almost as if on a dime.  Nick was pretty impressed at least.  However….

_ How am I going to sneak him in like that? _ He wondered, a little bit of unease threatening to come over him if he kept along this line of thinking.   _ I can’t very well carry him over my shoulder. _  For a moment, Nick wondered if he ought to pay someone else to carry Simon into Arcadia for him.  It would be easy enough and the first thought that occurred to Nick was that he would inspire whispers about kidnapping, which… did actually appeal to him.  Kidnapping was far more interesting than bringing a drunkard into town.  However, there wasn’t anyone around at present and Nick was unwilling to just leave him here unconscious or have him go wandering off.

He watched Simon carefully as the taller man came close to another pillar and then he pounced.  In a flash, he had the other man pinned with his back against the concrete.

“Oi!” Simon protested, coming to a realization about what this might be about.  “I hate to disappoint you, mate, but I don’t go that way.  I want all the  _ women _ to fall at my feet, remember?”

Nick just covered his mouth with a gloved hand, looking up at him seriously.  “Don’t flatter yourself.  If I wanted you, you would know it and I prefer a sober partner at the very least.”

Looking down at his hands, the smaller man bit down gently on the tip of his middle finger to remove one glove with his teeth as he kept the other on Simon’s mouth to stop the talking... just for now.  He had to admit that it did feel nice to touch someone.  When one glove was off, he placed it in one of his pockets before lifting his bare hand to rest on one side of Simon’s neck.  Enjoying the older man’s belated discomfort, he smiled as he lifted the other glove to his mouth and did the same.

When both hands were free, he gently took Simon’s face in them.  The taller man pinked slightly and when the healing sparks came out of Nick’s hands, Simon moaned, need stirring in his loins.

“Been a long time, hm?” Nick asked, his own cheeks growing warm at the telltale signs that grazed his thigh due to the other man’s arousal.  

“Uh… two weeks now?” Simon murmured, his brain trying to work.  Although he knew better, something about Nick… all that long hair… those pink lips and that pert little rear end… sure did remind him of a girl right about now through his drunken haze.  

Eyes snapping open wide, Nick nearly pulled away but remembered himself as he finished his work.  He hoped to accelerate the healing of Simon’s cells that the alcohol had thrown off of their normal balance.  This would also take care of the hangover symptoms and hopefully, they could walk into Arcadia upright and much improved.

“Only two weeks? _Really?_ ” His wife must have been really something and she must have been up for it all the time if Simon came out of it in  _ this _ much withdrawal.  “Well done, Simon,” he congratulated.  “Okay,” he alerted the other man.  “I believe that’s done it.”  He prepared to take his hands away but Simon caught them in his own.

“No, wait, hold on…” Simon urged him, his eyes closing as his brows knitted.  His pelvis pressed urgently against Nick’s, asking silently for gratification.

“Whoa-ohh!” Nick objected in surprise, jumping a foot backward with his hands in the air as if he was being held at gunpoint.  Well, it was certainly shaped like a gun at least.  To this thought, he couldn’t help but chuckle a little.  He could tell that their time together was going to be amusing, fun even.  Noting Simon’s discomfort, he offered, “I’m sorry.  I’m afraid I can’t make  _ that _ go away.”  It didn’t really deter Nick from peering at it openly.

“S-sure you can,” Simon retorted, shaking his muddled head absently, the awareness coming to him that it wasn’t as muddled as he thought.  “How did you do all that?”

“Okay,  _ won’t _ ,” Nick corrected, conveniently ignoring the question as he eyed their one interested spectator.   _ I suppose I could wait a bit.   _ “Katarina could though.  I would be happy to buy you a round with her… if I get to watch.”

“Whoa!” Simon looked at him pointedly, “you bloody pervert!”

“Um, you were ready to rub yours against mine and I’m not even your type,” Nick countered sweetly as he lowered his hands to his sides, still grinning at him.

“Oh you- It can wait,” Simon huffed sullenly, crossing his arms which, given the circumstances didn’t intimidate as it should have.

“You sure?” Nick asked, his soft green eyes lingering obviously.  He didn’t have any objections particularly to what was on the table.  He didn’t feel it would be wise to touch Simon directly if he was to work with him, not like this.  Knowing they could accomplish great things together, all the same, he could not help but wonder if he had been too hasty.

“Yes!  Let’s get a move on!” Simon insisted irritatedly, gesturing with his hands erratically in the direction Nick had pointed out.

With a small snicker, Nick led the way, removing his overcoat and lifted his hand as he walked, offering it to Simon.  A few steps later, he heard a small, “Cheers, Mate,” to which his smile only widened a little further.

It didn’t take long until they found the entrance, an unmarked iron gate, embellished with ivy and floral decorations.  The gateway stood in a shadowy nook past a few lit up unmarked doors.  It didn’t stand out so much as they were all lit up in the coming nightfall.  One unfamiliar would have guessed that just like them, it was the back entrance to some business or other, or perhaps someone’s affluent home.

“All citizens need a key to enter once they leave,” Nick explained as he pulled his out from his collar.  He kept it on a silver chain around his neck to keep it close.

“Where are we going?” Simon asked, no longer the least bit drunk or horny, having realized that he was wandering off into the night with a perfect stranger, good samaritan or not.  

“Arcadia,” Nick replied, looking over at Simon beside him, his eyes gravely serious now.  “And you mustn’t speak of it or bring anyone down without permission.  These uplanders wouldn’t understand.”

“Down?” Simon clarified as Nick turned his key and the lock sprung open.   The gate opened and a shadowy stairwell awaited them.  With an enigmatic smile, Nick gestured for Simon to lead the way if he chose but his new companion didn’t move a step.

With a shrug, Nick pointed to the handrail on the wall before he began his descent.

As far as Simon was concerned, this could be the descent into hell.  “You sure you have a safe place to stay for tonight?”

“Of course,” Nick agreed, ignoring the urge to sound ominous.  “Look, you weren’t afraid up here, right?  You’ll just have to trust me.”  Before too long, after two flights of steps and dank-looking dirt hallways, Nick paused before a large rose-shaped doorway, if indeed it could be described as an identifiable shape.  The fact that it was red helped a great deal.

Again, Nick took out his key gently and unlocked the door.  The doors opened slowly, powered by some unseen mechanism.

As they continued down the corridor, it became more and more grand as they moved, dirt walls being replaced with crown molding, dirt floors replaced with parquet.  Finally, they came to some sort of foyer gathering place that looked rather like a… restaurant maybe?  The inhabitants there were all so statuesque and fashionable that Simon almost didn’t know where to look, met with eye-candy at every turn, both female and male.

  
“We’ve arrived.  Welcome to Arcadia.”

* * *

TBC

_Review please?_


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a small part that I got done at work today. A little tidbit for the weekend. Enjoy! XD

* * *

Simon stood dumbstruck at the sight.  The colors of this place were so… dull and yet the people and decor were so…

“Beautiful,” he said, his eyes wandering as they took it all in.

“Yes it is, isn’t it?” Nick replied, sharing Simon’s wonder at it for a moment.  It truly took fresh eyes to remind him of something he’d long since grown used to but his Arcadia was indeed very beautiful.  “Come, it’s getting late.”

***.***

“You live ‘ere?” Simon asked even as he confidently fell back onto one of the plush sofas in Nick’s affluent townhouse.  “Uhngh-ahhh,” he grunted and stretched as he felt the soft pillows cushion and conform to his body, making himself quite at home.

“Here... and we have a place in the country,” Nick replied as he took back his trench coat and walked it himself to the coat closet in the foyer.  After showing Simon to the salon, he had quickly asked a member of his small house staff to leave them be unless he rang for them... and his country house?  It was actually more along the lines of a chateau but considering Simon’s predicament, he didn’t really feel the need to rub it in, deciding not to mention it.

Looking at the chateau again once he had set foot up above as a young man, Nick often wondered how such a thing was possible.   _ Perhaps my family made a home in Hell and dumped me there. _  Interesting thought.  Perhaps their country home on the outskirts of Arcadia, with all of its deep fungi, stalactites and wet moss, was further into the bowels of the earth than the city itself.  Eh, it was comfortable, stylish and magnificent so Nick had never felt a need to object…  _ or _ move.  Plus, his parents had provided for him so well, he somehow couldn’t really believe that they didn’t care about him at all.

When he stepped back into the room, he was surprised to find that Simon had toed off his shoes and closed his eyes.

“Ehm, I do have a bedroom or two you could choose from if you would prefer.”  He simply stood watching after he finished the statement.  Having someone in here resting on his couch was rather unusual and he couldn’t help but stare.

“Mmh?” Simon answered  Smiling against his pillow, he opened his eyes.  “Oh, right.  You don’t mind, do you, if I just stay ‘ere tonight?”  He was very comfortable.  If only this bloke would quit talking, he could drift off.

No one had ever allowed Nick to sleep out here before, not because he couldn’t do as he liked but simply because he had been educated that when one wanted to sleep, they did it in a  _ bed. _  If he declared he was tired, Perkins attended him in his room when he was ready, even escorted him when he was a boy.  He hadn’t known that sleeping out here was an option!

“Mm, no,” Nick asserted, walking over to stand on the side of the sofa that cradled Simon’s head, leaning over the edge to speak into his companion’s free ear.  “No, no.  I say, come with me, I’ll show you to one of the bedrooms.”

Simon opened one eye at him.  “... You always this much of a control freak, mate?”  The statement made Nick stop short from his thoughts.

“...Well, it is  _ my _ house,” the younger man retorted, as authoritatively as ever, though the statement did give him pause.  Why should he  _ not _ be?  “And yes, I suppose I am.”

“This is the most comfortable I’ve been in a week,” Simon explained tiredly.  “How’s about this?  I sleep out here tonight and then tomorrow night, I’ll sleep wherever you want me to.”  After he spoke that last bit, he winked at his companion cheekily.

The flirty implication in Simon’s voice caused Nick to look away with a small blush blooming.  He really wasn’t used to his ord-…  _ requests _ not being heeded and he was  _ not _ used to being teased.

“ _ I _ have never slept out here,” he replied, annoyed that he felt the need to explain.  Why couldn’t Simon just do as he was told?  Nick  _ had _ been gentle after all in his delivery.

“Well, that’s easily done,” his companion answered, honing in on the obvious solution as far as he was concerned.  “Take that one over there.”  His foot lazily tipped its toe toward a matching sofa that sat perpendicularly to the one he occupied.  “Sleep out  _ here _ with me tonight.”

“... _ With...  _ you?” Nick asked slowly, his face awash with something like shock.  Was that something a respectable nobleman did?  Sleep on couches next to bums when there was a perfectly functional, perfectly  _ luxurious _ bed upstairs that was chosen especially for him??  He eyed the neighboring couch dubiously.

Simon couldn’t understand what this guy’s problem was.  It was essentially the same as a sleep-over.  “Ohhh,” he said loudly as he came to his own conclusion.  “You would rather fall asleep in my arms then.” 

Nick’s head snapped back to look down at Simon as the other man straightened his legs out and nestled back into the roomy sofa, making easily enough room for his companion before patting the seat cushion in front of his lap with a smirk and eyes that were full of mischief.

“ _Now_ who is dreaming?” Nick retorted, remembering he’d forgotten to remove his leather gloves for the night.  He didn’t return to the hallway to put them away though, not willing to leave the conversation yet as long as he felt the urgency of this matter being resolved to  _ his  _ satisfaction. ...And since  _ when _ had he ever felt anything  _ like _ urgency?

To that, Simon laughed softly, the tones of it curling in Nick’s belly.  “Face it, beautiful.  You  _ love _ me.  And why not?  I have that effect on people.”

“Oh my god-dh,” Nick exclaimed, exasperated.  “What  _ is _ it with you?”  Not that he would ever admit it but beyond Simon’s misplaced advances, the young aristocrat did actually like the smugness that came through in that last statement even if it was a joke.  “You obviously have me mistaken for a female again.”

“Sorry, mate,” Simon conceded.  “Can’t help it.  I actually quite like it when your face looks like that.  You  _ are _ fun to tease.  Say, why the makeup anyway?  Why all the flash?”

Nick shrugged, deciding how to explain it to a person who wasn’t used to the way things worked down here.  Arcadia could be so gloomy without the sun to warm her.  Her citizens brightened themselves up and bolstered her dark beauty with their love of fashion and art, making their beloved town a truly unique and unforgettable place to exist.  

“It’s fun?” he offered simply.  “Roles are... not so defined down here.   _ You’ll _ see.  It has been my experience that men can generally do as they like.  Women even more so.”

“Ah, so can’t you let me do as  _ I  _ like?  As your guest, by the way."  The sandy-haired man closed his eyes again, highly satisfied that he had managed to bring this all back around for his own benefit.

Nick’s eyes rolled slightly upward in a suppressed eye roll.  “As a guest in my house, you may do as you like within my chosen boundaries placed at any given time.  Get your own fucking house and when I visit, I would be subject to even your most asinine-”

“G’night!” Simon interrupted, his face and body going slack and a deep exhale seeping out of his nose and mouth.  

“No,” Nick objected, leaning down closer to Simon’s head.  “I have magic, you know.”  That he did but to threaten Simon with it was a bluff.  So far in his life, the young heir of one of the greatest magical bloodlines had not ever used his great power to harm another person and the idea of doing so for the first time was daunting.  “...Simon,” he insisted.

Willing his breathing to deepen further, Simon imagined himself one with the lush sofa.  One of his greatest talents was to be able to sleep nearly anywhere and within a moment or two, he began to snore.  

“No!” His fists clenching at his sides in frustration, Nick stood there a moment, leaning over his sleeping companion.  “Wake up,” he ordered, his deep voice breaking the otherwise silence of the room.  

Nick found himself at an impasse.  Apparently, Simon slept like a rock when cushioned.  It also occurred to the raven haired man that his new charge was probably making up for the lack of restful slumber over an extended period.   _ Perhaps he feels safe here. _  Despite his annoyance at being ignored and disobeyed in his own home, Nick couldn’t help but have heart enough to let the man be.  

Walking with gloves in hand to the foyer closet, Nick placed them in their designated spot among the other pairs before automatically returning to stand just outside the door to the salon.  As he peered into the room to see if there was any possibility Simon might stir, he paced back and forth anxiously.  

_ If anyone gets to sleep there, it should only be me… or at least, me first.   _

Finally, when Simon showed no signs of moving and Nick had grown weary, he turned and made his way up to his bedroom.

His valet met him in the hall at the top of the stairs.  “Can I get you anything, sir?  Warm milk or some chamomile tea?”

“I’m alright, Perkins, thank you.  You may retire for tonight.”  Nick said the words but actually, he didn’t wish to be alone.  However, there was no real reason to ask his man to stay with him if there was no task to carry out.  He was not a little boy anymore after all.

“Very well,” Perkins acknowledged, his eyes on Nick’s face, which was always so solemn when he thought no one was paying attention.  Something was off with his master and he wished to ask more but he didn’t want to run the risk of angering his liege by questioning orders.  “I’ll be in my room if you need… anything at all.  Goodnight, sir.”

“Oh, I almost forgot.  There is a man asleep in the salon.  Please alert the staff to continue to leave him be until he addresses you himself or I say otherwise.”

“Very good, sir,” Perkins replied in understanding.  It wasn’t unusual for their master to bring home guests or to hold lavish parties but it was a rare thing when one stayed overnight.  “Is there anything else?”

“No. Thank you, Perkins.”

“Very well.  Goodnight, your lordship.”

“Goodnight,” Nick answered, attempting to smile for the man who’d had a large hand in raising him before heading off to his room.  

***.***

It wasn’t until the middle of the night when Simon stirred again.  Opening his eyes, it took him a good few moments to remember where he was.  Looking around in the eerie stillness of the room, he looked for a clock on the wall, anything.  

_ Don’t they keep track of time here?  Eh… His Highness probably doesn’t need to worry about deadlines or being late to anything. _

Behind the sofa he was on, there was more of the room to be seen and he lazily turned his head but didn’t bother sitting up.   _ No stars… nor moon.  Of course. _  Somehow, it was difficult, even though he had been there himself to follow his mysterious benefactor below the streets he had known, to accept the fact that they were underground and that there would be no astronomical bodies here and no weather...

Turning back to relax into his previous sleeping posture, Simon noticed that he wasn’t alone.  There on the other couch, mostly stretched out on his stomach with one leg pulled into his body, was his enigmatic host in a deep sleep.

  
Simon’s lips pulled back into a grin and he laughed silently to himself before getting up to tiptoe out and find a restroom.

* * *

TBC! _Review please?_


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